Shoulder guard for wire clothes hanger

ABSTRACT

A shoulder guard for mounting on a wire clothes hanger is provided with a top surface with an elongated slot through which the neck of the hanger extends. The top surface has a semi-cylindrical recess extending transversely relative to the slot to facilitate the insertion of a twist tie fastener such that multiple hangers with shoulder guards can be joined in side-by-side relation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application contains subject matter disclosed in Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/571,960, filed May 17, 2004 and priority thereon is hereby claimed.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO A “SEQUENCE LISTING”, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to shoulder guards for mounting on wire clothes hangers designed to support articles of clothing or the like and more particularly to an improved shoulder guard for mounting on a wire clothes hanger that accommodates a fastening device, such that a plurality of the hangers with the shoulder guards can be easily joined together in side by side relation.

2. Description of Prior Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

Wire hangers are widely used in the laundry and dry cleaning industries because they are strong, lightweight and inexpensive. Such hangers are formed by bending a wire into a triangular shape. The section of the wire at one end is bent to extend upwardly to form a vertical neck section extending from the top of the triangle. The top of the vertical neck section is formed into an arcuate “hook” adapted to be mounted over a horizontal rod. The section of the wire at the other end is twisted around the vertical neck section to close the triangle.

However, because the wire from which the hanger is formed is so thin, and the metal surface of the wire is so smooth, garments hung on the hanger often fall off the hanger or are not situated properly on the shoulder portion of the wire hanger. For that reason, plastic shoulder guards, well known in the industry, are often mounted over the shoulder portion of the wire hanger to better support a garment, such as a shirt or jacket. The shoulder guard is much wider that the wire that forms the hanger, does not have a slick surface and is shaped so as to provide much better support for the garment than the wire hanger itself.

It is known that wire hangers can be connected together using a fastening device, such as a twist tie. The twist tie is looped around or inserted through the opening below the twisted portion of the vertical neck sections of adjacent hangers and the ends are twisted to form a loop. Laundries and dry cleaners connect hangers together in this fashion when related garments are supported on different hangers, such as garments belonging to the same customer, or garments being processed in the same batch.

The use of shoulder guards on wire hangers is more desirable than using the wire hangers alone in many ways, but the structure of conventional shoulder guards has the disadvantage of covering the vertical neck section of the wire hanger immediately below the twisted portion such that a twist tie cannot be easily inserted to connect hangers with the shoulder guards together in side by side relation. While it is still possible to loop the twist tie around the outside of the twisted portions of the neck sections, encircling the neck sections of the hangers with a twist tie in that fashion does not maintain correct alignment between the hanger bodies. Consequently, the connected hangers cannot be easily handled or packaged in plastic film as a unit.

It is, therefore, a prime object of the present invention to provide an improved shoulder guard for a wire clothes hanger that permits easy connection of wire hangers with shoulder guards using a simple fastening device.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

That object is achieved in the present invention by providing the top surface of the shoulder guard with a recess situated to align with the lower portion of the neck of the wire hanger when the shoulder guard is mounted on the wire hanger. That recess facilitates the insertion of a twist tie fastener through the lower portion of the neck of the wire hanger such that several wire hangers with shoulder guards mounted thereon can be joined together in substantially side-by-side parallel relation by the fastener.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF DRAWINGS

To that and to such other objects that may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to an improved shoulder guard for wire clothes hangers, as described in detail in the following specification and recited in the annexed claims, taken together with the accompanying drawings wherein like numbers relate to like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of two wire clothes hangers with shoulder guards of the present invention mounted thereon, showing how the fastener is inserted into the hanger necks to join the hangers; and

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of two wire clothes hangers with shoulder guards of the present invention mounted thereon, showing how the fastener is closed to join the hangers after it is inserted into the hanger necks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 that illustrate two wire clothes hangers A of conventional design with shoulder guards B in accordance with the present invention mounted thereon. Each angers A and shoulder guards B mounted thereon forms an assembly. The hanger/guard assemblies are shown in side-by-side relation.

The figures illustrate two hanger/guard assemblies that are being joined together by a fastener for purposes of illustration. However, it will be appreciated that any number of hanger/guard assemblies could be joined together in side-by-side relation, as long as the fastener being used is long enough. Accordingly, the present invention should not be considered to be limited to any particular number of shoulder guards.

In FIG. 1, a fastening device in the form of a twist tie C is shown as it is inserted through the opening at the base of neck sections 10 of wire clothes hangers A, immediately below the twisted portions 12 of the hanger necks. FIG. 2 shows fastener C after the fastener has been inserted through the openings at the base of the hanger necks, the ends of the fastener have been bent toward each other in overlapping relation and twisted together to form a loop to maintain the hangers A with shoulder guards B in side-by-side relation.

As seen in both Figures, each of the shoulder guards B has a top surface 14 that extends in a plane generally perpendicular to the neck section 10 of the hanger A, when the shoulder guard B is mounted thereon. Top surface 14 has and elongated slot 16 adapted to permit the vertical neck section 10 and the hook portion 18 of the hanger to extend through the top surface 14 of the shoulder guard such that the shoulder guard can be mounted on the hanger.

In addition, the top surface 14 of each shoulder guard has a generally semi-cylindrical shaped recess 20 extending substantially transversely to slot 16 across the top surface 14. The axis of recess 20 extends through the plane of the wire hanger, substantially orthogonal thereto.

The purpose of recess 20 is to provide clearance for the fastener C such that it can be inserted through the neck sections 10 of adjacent wire hangers, at a point below the twisted portions 12 of the necks, as seen in FIG. 1, and then the ends of the tie can be twisted together to form a loop to connect the adjacent hangers together, as is illustrated in FIG. 2.

In will now be appreciated that the present invention relates to a shoulder guard for use with a wire clothes hanger that has a top surface with a transversely extending recess adapted to be situated adjacent the opening in the base of the neck of the hanger upon which it is mounted. The recess is designed to accommodate a fastening device, such as a twist tie. The recess facilitates insertion of the fastener through the neck sections of adjacent hangers upon which shoulder guards of the present invention are mounted. Once in place, the ends of the fastener are twisted together to connect the hangers in side-by-side relation. 

1. A shoulder guard for a wire hanger of the type having a neck with an opening, the shoulder guard comprising a top surface with an elongated slot adapted to receive the hanger neck and a recess extending substantially transversely of said slot.
 2. The guard of claim 1 further comprising a fastener adapted to extend within said recess and through the opening in the hanger neck.
 3. In combination, the guard of claim 1 and a wire hanger comprising a neck with an opening.
 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said hanger is situated in a plane and wherein said recess extends in a direction substantially orthogonal to said plane.
 5. The guard of claim 1 wherein said recess has a substantially semi-cylindrical configuration.
 6. The combination of claim 3 wherein said recess has a substantially semi-cylindrical configuration.
 7. The guard of claim 2 wherein said fastener is a twist tie.
 9. The combination of claim 3 further comprising a fastener adapted to extend within said recess and through the opening in the hanger neck.
 10. The combination of claim 9 wherein said fastener is a twist tie. 